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We will not get to see Rory McIlroy do a victory lap at Harbour Town this weekend within the wake of his Masters victory.
The Northern Irishman is one in every of many big names who won’t be playing the RBC Heritage, however his attendance on the occasion was by no means to be anticipated anyway.
McIlroy’s decision to skip the Signature Event was confirmed final week previous to his win at Augusta National.
Some might imagine that McIlroy opts out of the event as a result of its proximity to The Masters as he seeks day off to have a good time and unwind, but it surely does not actually have something to do with scheduling.
In reality, the RBC Heritage is simply an occasion that McIlroy doesn’t take pleasure in and doesn’t really feel fits his recreation in any respect.
Back in 2020, after ending T41 at Harbour Town, McIlroy all however confirmed the RBC Heritage would by no means be a daily a part of his annual schedule.
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He stated: “Once I got here and I played the golf course, I sort of remembered why I haven’t been here for a while. It’s tough.
“It’s a stunning place. There’s different programs on Tour that in all probability match my recreation somewhat bit higher and clearly the week after the Masters is at all times a troublesome one.
“Guys like to come here and decompress, but my idea of decompression is not seeing golf clubs for a week.”
On that poor displaying in 2020, he added: “I got off to a decent start and then the ball in the water on four just stopped any momentum. I played okay after that, I guess. I birdied nine and then birdied a couple coming in on the homestretch.
“It’s advantageous. It’s a kind of weeks the place, clearly, low scores, very bunched. You needed to gap numerous putts and I did not over the week. But I’m nonetheless fairly proud of how I performed.”
Justin Thomas won the 2025 RBC Heritage | Credit: Getty Images
Interestingly, McIlroy was even fined $3m for bowing out of the occasion in 2023. At the time, the PGA Tour insisted gamers solely miss one Signature Event per season, and that was McIlroy’s second of the yr (he additionally skipped the Sentry Tournament of Champions).
That $3m came out of his end-of-season Player Impact Program bonus money.
While we can’t see McIlroy at Harbour Town, and Justin Rose has withdrawn from the RBC Heritage, too, there are nonetheless some huge names in what’s a stacked subject this weekend.
A complete of 17 of the world’s prime 20 will likely be current, together with defending champion Justin Thomas and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
In whole, 10 extra players have been added to the RBC Heritage line-up after the PGA Tour introduced winners of occasions in 2025 (who have been outdoors the highest 50 within the FedExCup standings) could be invited to Harbour Town in lieu of taking part in at The Sentry, which was canceled this yr.
Other notable gamers collaborating embody Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, and the in-form Cameron Young.
